Automated banking machines are known in the prior art. A popular type of automated banking machine is an automated teller machine (ATM). Other types of automated banking machines are used to count and dispense cash. These machines are often used by tellers or customer service representatives in banking and other transaction environments.
ATM machines commonly in use accept deposits from customers and process the deposits using devices which are separate from the devices which dispense currency and other items to customers. Most common ATM depositories require customers to place their deposits in an envelope. The envelope is accepted into the machine for storage. Although the customer indicates the value of the contents of the envelope, the customer's account is often not credited for the amount of deposit until the envelope is removed from the ATM by bank personnel and the contents verified.
Other ATM machines have the capability of receiving checks and other negotiable instruments. Such machines may include a device such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,467. Devices of this type can be used to cancel and produce electronic images of checks which are deposited into an ATM machine. The cancelled checks are stored in the machine for later removal by bank personnel.
Currency notes, travelers checks and other documents and sheet materials that are commonly dispensed by ATMs, are generally housed in the machine in removable canisters. Sheets are dispensed from the canisters and delivered by the machine to customers. Periodically these canisters must be removed from the machine and the supply of sheets therein replenished. This is a labor intensive activity. To replace the canisters the secure portion of the ATM must be opened. The canisters in the machine must be removed and new canisters, which include a new supply of sheets, placed in the machine. Alternatively the canisters in the machine may be opened, money or other sheets added, and then replaced. After the canisters are replaced the secure portion of the machine must be closed.
The replacement or resupply of canisters often requires transporting filled canisters to the machine and returning partially depleted canisters to a remote location. While efforts have been made in the design of canisters to minimize opportunities for pilferage, there is always some risk. Therefore such activities are normally carried out by armed couriers. More than one person is often assigned to any task where there is access to the cash or other valuables in the machine. Because numerous individuals may be involved in loading replacement canisters, transporting replacement canisters to ATM machines, replacing the canisters, returning the removed canisters and auditing the contents of returned canisters, it is often difficult to identify the cause of any losses.
The need to periodically replace currency canisters is an inconvenience because the ATM must be shut down. Customers are not able to use the ATM while the supply of currency is being replenished, and lost opportunities to conduct transactions and customer dissatisfaction may result. Customers will also be disappointed if replenishment operations are not performed frequently enough and the machine runs out of currency or other documents.
Other types of automated banking machines, such as those that dispense cash to customer service representatives, have the same drawbacks as ATM machines. Periodic replenishment of the currency or other valuable documents that are dispensed by the machine must be done to keep the machine in operation. While such machines speed the cash dispensing service to the customer, there is a significant cost associated with segregating, preparing and transporting the currency before it is placed within the machine.
Other banking machines have been developed for identifying and counting currency. Such machines may be used in banking and vending environments. Machines which count currency generally require that the currency be pre-oriented a particular way to obtain proper identification. This is time consuming for the person operating the machine. Many currency counting machines also tend to reject valid notes due to natural deterioration which occurs in U.S. currency. The speed associated with such currency counting and accepting machines is also less than desirable in many cases.
Automated banking machines which are capable of receiving currency, identifying the particular type and denomination of currency, storing the currency and later dispensing it to a customer have been used in countries outside the United States. Such recycling machines are feasible in countries such as Japan where currency notes include special features which facilitate their identification by machines. However, such recycling machines have not generally been feasible with U.S. currency notes which generally do not include special features that facilitate identification by machine. U.S. currency notes also are subject to a wide range of conditions such as wear, soiling and bleaching which do not render a note unfit for use, but which render it very difficult for a machine to properly identify.
The currency recycling type banking machines that have been developed also generally suffer from slow operating speeds. This is particularly true when the machines are used to process a large number of notes. Often such machines require that the notes be oriented in a particular way and considerable time is associated with the rejection of notes due to improper orientation. The handling of the sheets to facilitate identification and storage is also a time consuming process. Once a sheet has been initially identified as proper and stored in the machine, there is generally no check to be sure that the original determination of the type and character of the note was correct. As a result, a customer may receive a misidentified note. This can reduce customer satisfaction.
Dispensers in automated banking machines generally pick one note at a time. Occasionally malfunctions occur and double or even triple notes are picked. The picking of double notes is particularly a concern in a currency recycling automated banking machine where notes must be separated to be identified. Various types of doubles detector devices have been developed. Some such devices rely on physical contact with passing notes to determine thickness. Other sensors determine note thickness inferentially from the optical or other properties of passing notes.
Prior note sensing devices which sense optical properties have sought to detect doubles by sensing the transmissivity of light through a small area of a note. This approach has some inherent unreliability due to the different optical properties which exist in various areas of a note. Conditions such as marking, staining or bleaching of notes can also make conventional optical sensing for double notes unreliable.
Thus there exists a need for a currency recycling automated banking machine that is more reliable, operates more quickly and which can be used with U.S. and other currencies as well as other documents which have a wide range of properties. There further exists a need for a device which senses document thicknesses more reliably in such an automated banking machine.